here’s something intriguing about Los Angeles rapper and producer Busdriver’s eccentric, in-your-face style that leaves you wondering whether you should be offended, alarmed or ecstatic. On his new album Perfect Hair, released this week via Big Dada Records, he does all three of these things and makes us love every bit of it.
His flow is deep and intense and his subject matter is heavy. Thus, there is very little room on the record for the catchy hooks or fun, radio-friendly ramblings about money and women that are typical on most modern hip-hop records. Instead, Busdriver destroys the idea of a “standard” rap album.
Busdriver has previously released music on Epitaph Records, a label run by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz that mainly supports punk bands. This was initially confusing to me, but after listening to Perfect Hair, makes perfect sense. Busdriver laughs in the face of all those who endorse the superficiality of high-budget mainstream music. In the album’s opening track “Retirement Ode,” a monotone voice reports that making the record had cost “almost everything” and sarcastically jokes that his backup singers cost $3,500 per take.
The instrumentals on the album are simple yet intricate, featuring samples of orchestral music and frantic drum ‘n’ bass beats. However, he often showcases his vocal and lyrical potential by slowing it down and laying down unrelenting verses over a simple, droning beat heavy enough for some of the heaviest hitters in hip-hop. The main attraction of the album, “Ego Death,” features verses from the legendary Aesop Rock and the madman Danny Brown, two of the only rappers eccentric enough to deserve an appearance on this album. The hook of the song is simple and minimal, existing only to separate the verses from the epic trio. Aesop’s flow complements Busdriver’s verses perfectly, and the dark intensity of the two is just enough to balance out the sharp twang on Danny Brown’s verse.
The closing track of Perfect Hair continues Busdriver’s apparent opinion that popular culture, or “world leaders and street fashion” are something to be taken with an enormous grain of salt, admitting that he does not “make money like an NFL running back.” This track features a false ending to the album, where a prolonged silence is followed by another song which is arguably more upbeat and melodic than anything else on the album.
Overall, Perfect Hair is Busdriver’s way of setting himself apart from the rest of the hip-hop world. It is his way of announcing to anyone who doesn’t see his music as anything special that it may be time to start. “I’m impossible to love,” he states on “Motion Lines,” all while reminding his audience to keep an open mind.
Rating: A-
